Old Magic
by kaj1472000
Summary: Ashley Davies is mesmerizing, but Spencer Carlin doesn't know why.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Old Magic

Author of book: Marianne Curley

A/N: This is based reallyyyy closely on the book Old Magic. I did change some of the story to make it fit with Spashley, but I'm kinda being selfish and doing it this way to learn how to write..haha..but I also just really like SON and Old Magic. Who knows? Maybe you'll like it too??

Diclaimer: I do not own South of Nowhere or the book, Old Magic. So don't sue me. I'm totally innocent. Thanks.

**Spencer**

Her name is Ashley Davies. She has dark brown curly hair with brown eyes to match, but this isn't the only reason why I can't take my eyes off of her. There's something unnatural about her, something almost disturbing. It's this and the fact that she's unbelievably hot that has got me hooked to her.

She's standing in the front of the class of 10th grade chemistry. She's a little nervous as she doesn't know what to do with her hands and her eyes roam the classroom. They look at everyone but not once connecting with someone else's eyes. She is wearing the uniform that all of us have to wear. If you look at her, you wouldn't guess that she is new, because her skirt is too high for the dress code no one follows. Also, her button up shirt is tight around her chest. In one word to describe her, she looks SEXY.

Mr. Smith, our teacher, tells us the short biography that the principal probably gave him. Her family shifted from the Riverina only a few days ago and she has a younger sister who's in the 9th grade.

I'm not the only person interested in her. It looks like my douche brother Glen is looking at Ashley in the perverted manner that boys do. His girlfriend, Madison, is sitting right beside him. Apparently, Madison sees Glen's interest in Ashley, so I probe her brain slowly. It's one of the skills Julia taught me. She says I was born with a natural gift to sense someone's feelings, to feel someone's feelings. Over the years, I have practice this gift so now that I only have to concentrate for a few seconds and I'm in her head.

_Damn!_ I pull out of her as fast as I came in. It felt like I was walking into a raging fire.

"Spencer? Spencer!"

Chelsea, my best friend, is staring at me like I was about to die.

"You okay? You went paler than your usual vampire pale."

I smile, and ignore her comment. I may look anemic but I'm not. I don't go into the sun too much though because I burn too quickly. However, I live on this small plantation on a mountain called Ashpeak in Ohio. It suits me fine. I have long blonde hair with baby blue eyes, courtesy of my father that I've never met. The only thing I've inherited from my mother is her pale skin. I don't remember my mother. I was raised by my grandmother, Julia. With the way I look, I don't look like I would be a witch, but some people still believe I am. And I am, just not in the stereotypical sense of the word.

Chelsea is the only one who knows the truth. She has seen what I can do, which isn't much, not yet anyway.

Although Julia is my grandmother, I don't call her grandma or anything. When I was born, she was quite young, so she thought saying grandma would make her feel old. And of course mom wouldn't be right either. So I just call her by her first name. One thing Julia constantly teaches me is to keep certain things a mystery. Like my abilities, moving things, working spells, sensing moods, and changing things. I'm nothing compared to what Julia can do. Most everyone knows that Julia is a witch. We never do anything in front of people. They just know because of where we live, which is in the middle of nowhere, and the articles that Julia writes for the Witch magazines. With me, they just guess. However, no one has ever said anything to her face. They're too scared that she will perform dark magic on them. If they ever read one of the articles, they would know that she is a healer. To keep us in good financial shape, she owns a shop. It is mostly for tourists, because it contains witch things for people to buy. People have a stupid idea for what it is to be a witch, but Julia is not _typical_ in any way.

I hear a noise and I see Ashley on the floor. Unbelievable. Madison just tripped Ashley. She was walking to her seat and she just tripped her. It's not Ashley's fault that she is so much prettier than Madison.

I decide to probe in her head just to wonder if she was okay and why she was so nervous. I mean I know that she only tripped and she has a right to be nervous since it's her first day of school, but still. When I get around the edges of her senses, her head lifts and stills. Uh oh. She can't possibly feel my probe, no one ever does. I still go in deeper. I sense her need to belong in this school. Then I feel something hard hit me. It takes a second to realize what it is. She blocked me out. This way I can't probe to feel her emotions. This has never happened to me before. She turns around and sees me. We lock eyes and something intense is flowing between us. I know then that she's different. She felt my probe, but I think she doesn't understand. Suddenly, Ashley Davies becomes much more interesting.

Mr. Smith tries to get everyone's attention. _Yeah. Good luck with that Teach._ Ashley turns around to face the front and at last I breathe.

I don't probe her brain again. My heart is still pounding and all my concentration is lost for the lesson Mr. Smith is trying to teach us. Thankfully, the experiment is simple. I watch Ashley and I see that she doesn't have very much self confidence. I notice this because Madison isn't letting up on her insults and Ashley is just sitting there. Mr. Smith isn't doing anything about it either, because he's weak and doesn't want to deal with the shit that insecure teenagers bring.

Ashley wears glasses. So to drive her crazy, Madison walks over to her and knocks down her glasses. The whole class laughs and Mr. Smith just tells Madison to pick them up. She does but smudges the glasses and cracks one of the lens.

I think of a spell I could use to make Madison suffer. I could make her talk like a baby all day. That would be awesome wouldn't it?

"What a bitch right?"

I smile at Chelsea's description of Madison. Then, something sharp hits my senses. Something indescribable. I look outside. It's all rainbows and sunshine. I probe in her brain just a little so she doesn't shut me out again. It was enough to realize all the anger in her. She was fighting it but I want to see what she would do to those airheads. Then things start to happen. Aiden, Glen's best friend, screams like a girl when his beaker explodes. I would be laughing if other beakers and glass wasn't breaking. The lights flicker and hiss. The room becomes dark even though it's only morning. Someone screams and everyone starts murmuring.

Mr. Smith, trying to act like an authority figure, tells everybody to calm down and remain seated and he will go check what's wrong with the power.

Of course nobody is listening. When he leaves the room, the murmuring becomes frantic. We see dark, thunderous clouds coming in. Windows start to fling back on their own and Madison keeps trying to insult Ashley. Paper, pens, notebooks, and whatever isn't permanently attached to the room starts to crash into the walls.

Mr. Smith comes back and looks shocked, but he remembers he's the one in charge, "What's going on in here? This is the only room with a power problem. Quick! Close the windows."

"They're stuck sir!" Aiden yells across the room. All the girls are running around the room screaming and huddling in corners. The only one remaining calm is Ashley. Lightning strikes and everyone screams. It strikes again before anyone even gets a chance to catch their breath.

Chelsea grabs my arm. "What's going on?" She asks me when her nails dig into my skin.

I yank her hand off my arm. "I don't know"

"So then it's not you doing this?"

I stare at her, shaking my head. "Chels, I don't have this kind of power."

Apparently, Ashley does. Somehow she doesn't know how to control it or even look like she knows she's causing it herself. Ashley is just sitting in her stool when everyone is trying to leave. The window shatters and while everybody hits the floor in self-protection. A piece of glass hits Ashley and that seems to break the spell. The thunder and lightning stops as well as the wind. The light comes back up again. For thirty seconds, the room is completely silent for once. The whole class is in shock. Finally, Mr. Smith notices the deep cut Ashley has.

"Oh. God. We should probably get you to the nurse." I could tell Mr. Smith doesn't really know what to do now. While Ashley is trying to tell him that she does not know where the nurse is, I look for a rag to cover up the wound. I tell him that I will take her to the nurse, while I'm wrapping a rag around her arm. While we're walking to the door, I hear Madison say, "Try not to get stuck in the closet. Who knows? Queer eye could try and take advantage of you." Typically the class roars with laughter. Whatever. They have no thoughts of their own.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ashley**

I feel like the fattest man in the world has body slammed me. My head hurts and my arm feels like hell. I'm supposed to follow this girl to the nurse, but obviously she has other plans.

And that comment Madison made about her? I don't understand, but I don't really care about it either. All I know is that she is kidnapping me somewhere except I'm willingly following her. That's not really kidnapping.. hmm. Whatever.

I want to ask where she's taking me but I want to try and remember the name Mr. Smith called her. I was sort of in Ashleyland because the whole disaster made me feel like I was watching it from the outside and it wasn't affecting me at all. I'm used to freaky stuff happening to me which is why I'm so emo about my life. I move constantly because something is always happening and we have to move. Two years is the longest I've ever stayed in one place. My dad always says that it's a fresh start. The problem is, I don't want a fresh start. I want to belong in one place. We have had so many problems over the years. The most recent one was that my father hurt his leg permanently and now he can't do what he does best. Play music.

My mother has had her disappointments too. She had so much bad health over the years and each illness seems to be getting worse. And the hospital bills aren't helping. She doesn't have any work-related skills, but she's good at ordering people around. That's called.. leadership right?

The girl is leading me out of the school and I start to focus a little bit better. I notice that she is very attractive. She has long blonde hair that ends at her mid-back. When I look lower, I see that her skirt is high, but not as high as mine of course. It is high enough to see that she has the most beautiful legs you would ever lay eyes on. However, she has pasty skin, almost like she's anemic. Her body makes up for it though.

_Spencer._ Score! That's what Mr. Smith called her. "Hey" I call.

She stops and turns around. "Yeah?"

I shift the rag around my arm. "You're supposed to take me to the nurse."

She looks at me like I just need to shut up. "I know a better place. Just follow me."

I instantly grabbed her hand so she turns around again, losing my bandage in the process. She gives me a glare, and then she sees the bandage on the ground. She lets go of my hand and I lose the warmth I felt, only so she could get the rag from the ground.

"I'm taking you to see my grandmother" she says.

"Is she a nurse?"

"She's better."

Oookay. As if that was enough explanation. We start walking again. We shove our way through trees and bushes until we reach the main road. We follow this road for awhile before we turn right into a rainforest. This rainforest is on a mountain which is really steep and now I understand why she has such gorgeous legs. Today was so not a good day to wear heels.

I feel like we have been hiking up this mountain for forever. "Where does your grandmother live? At this rate, I could be dead before we get there."

She turns around and gives me that glare again which I find really sexy on her. "If you're still bleeding, apply pressure. I'm sure you'll be just fine."

I see that she glances at the wound and winces. I guess the wound was deeper than she thought. She grabs the rag and makes it tighter. "Thanks Spencer." We lock eyes and then I feel a sensation my head that is hard to describe. "Shit, what was that?"

She turns around and starts walking again and I catch her say "You don't know?"

I reply, "If I knew, would I be asking?"

She slows down and I catch up with her. "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know. I only know that it doesn't feel right."

Spencer looks down and her feet. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"You'll figure it out."

The rest of the walk is silent. Well it is till we get to a plantation, which I'm guessing is her plantation. "So, what does your grandmother do?"

Without hesitating, "She's a witch."

"Are you off you meds?" A witch? HA! Yeah, and I'm Mandy Musgrave.

I think she realizes she didn't really mean to say that, because she starts stuttering. "Pl-please don't tell anyone I said that. I just, well, I just know that you're different too."

What the fuck? Now my opinion about her has defiantly changed. "What? So you are telling me that your grandmother can do black magic and all that stuff and that I might be able to do it too?"

I stare at her and she gets defensive. "Julia would never do anything to hurt anyone. She's a healer." I guess she sees my stunned expression because she starts to explain. "Look, I wouldn't be telling you this but I believe that you have the gift too. I can see that you don't know anything about it which is why I'm so surprised. But you have to understand. If you can manipulate the weather like that, then you must be really strong and that can be dangerous."

I stare at her even harder. "So are you a witch too?"

She smiles and says "You could say that."

"That's impossible. Witchcraft doesn't exist."

Her smile falters. "It exists."

Righttt. "I think I'm just going to go back to school and find that nurse."

"Wait", she practically yells, "I'm sorry if I scared you, but I really will help your arm. You could really bleed to death before you get to the school." She runs over and grabs my hand and I feel the warmth again, despite her delusional mind. "It's not far now. Julia really is a good healer. It'll be fine."

I reluctantly follow her. Damn. She really knows how to convince someone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Spencer**

On that walk, I found out a lot about Ashley, She doesn't seem to have much self-confidence but I wonder if she just doesn't show it. To me, it looks like she should have no problem with confidence. I do know for sure that she has more power than I've ever seen. And she doesn't believe that she does. I wonder what Julia would think?

Julia and I mostly keep to ourselves, except for Chelsea. A few years ago, I heard from my mother for the first time in a note addressed to Julia. She said that she was living in California with a man named Ben and his three grown-up children. I bet Ben doesn't even know I exist. I'm glad I have Julia and Chelsea, but sometimes I wish I knew what was wrong with me that makes my mother not want to even acknowledge that I am her daughter.

Julia was also a single mom. Her parents kicked her out when they found out about her pregnancy. She moved in with an artist once, but it didn't work out. She also lived with a few witch wannabe's making their money from ripping off the people who were desperate to find out their future. Then, she moved out on her own and started her own shop, which she still has, called The Crystal Forest.

Ashley and I are close to my house now. My house is actually more of a cottage. It's small but Julia and I like it that way.

I wonder what Ashley thinks of my house, but I'm not going to make the mistake again to probe her mind. If I did, she would probably try to run again and I don't want that to happen. I'll have to tell Julia to take it slow with explaining the witch stuff.

The door chimes ring when we enter. I see Julia in the back so we walk toward her. When she sees us, she looks at Ashley and her jaw drops. She backs away and puts on her glasses. When she looks at Ashley again, she screams. She starts mumbling frantically and it's hard to make out. When she stops, I look at Ashley. She probably thinks we're both crazy now, and it is certainly written on her face.

Julia still looks frightened but I ask what happened.

She points at Ashley. "Snakes. I saw snakes."

I look at Ashley again and I don't see any. "What do you mean Julia? She's fine. No snakes."

"They're gone now, but Spencer there were at least 20 weaving all over her shoulders and face."

It must've been a vision. "I just met her, and I don't sense an ounce of evil on her." Well, not evil, just total hotness.

"Excuse me. This is fun and all, but I really need to get this all cured and get the hell out of here", Ashley interrupts.

Crap. She's pissed and scared. "Ashley, let me explain."

She puts up her hand. "Don't bother Spencer. I'm not going to listen."

Julia takes Ashley's arm and examines the wound. "We need to get this cleaned up. Follow me Ashley."

Julia takes Ashley to the kitchen and sits her down on a chair. I take the chair opposite from her and watch Julia put herbal antiseptics on her arm. Ashley winces. "Hey, what the hell is this stuff?"

"St. John's Wort. A very good antiseptic", Julia explains.

"Why can't you just use regular antiseptic? It wouldn't sting as much."

Julia ignores the question. "It's not too deep and I don't think it needs stitches." She places a large bandage on the cut. "But go to the doctor if it gets worse."

When Julia is done with her, Ashley gets curious and starts looking at the things Julia keeps in the store. I pulled Julia aside. "I know she has a lot of power. I saw it and felt it."

Julia nods. "It's just strange how Ashley is so unaware of her power. Mostly if you have that much power you either realize it really early or not at all."

"Ashley's power is so immense, yet she doesn't know it."

"That's strange. Like something's triggered it."

I think about it for a minute. "If she doesn't learn to control the power, then it can end up being dangerous. She can manipulate the weather and she almost destroyed the science lab today. It was pure luck that no one was hurt."

"You need to find out about his past. Be careful though. He seems very cautious now."

We stop whispering when Ashley comes back. She thanks Julia politely and we go outside. It's peaceful with blue skies. I just hope that's what happens when I start to find out about her past.


	4. Chapter 4

So back from a reallyyyyy long hiatus. But I put up a new chapter and I'm hoping to actually finish what I start ya know? Haha. But I hope you like it! R&R please?? (:

**Ashley**

"Want to ditch?"

I look at her, she has to be kidding. We're standing outside of her grandmother's weird shop and I glance at my watch. 11am. "If you want to ditch, knock yourself out. But I don't want to face a suspension on the first day."

"No. I just…want to show you something."

"I'm good." I start walking down the road as quickly as I can. Spencer is defiantly different, so is her grandmother. Apparently, it's in the genes. "Maybe some other time." _When I'm mentally insane!_

"It's not far though. I just want to make up for everything before. Please? With a cheery on top??" She clasps her hands together and makes a pouty face. It's actually cute. Wait. I did NOT just think that. "No."

"You'll love this place. It's enchanted."

Enchanted? This girl really is a freak. "Nope."

She realizes her mistake and corrects herself. "No, I don't mean in a magical sense, just pleasant."

"I've had enough of all this magic and whatnot." God, I really just want to go.

"Look," she persists annoyingly. "This place is really special to me and I bet you haven't seen much of the mountain yet.

That's true. I've only been here a couple of days and all I've done is fix up the house to make it more accessible for dad. "And??"

She grabs my elbow and starts to pull me. She's a bit taller than me. Probably, about a head length. I follow her into the forest. "You know, you're dangerous."

She laughs, but doesn't answer. For the next twenty minutes, we fight through all the vines and branches and I make a mental list of all the creatures that are stuck at the bottom of my shoe, itching its way up to my exposed flesh. Ewwww.

We finally get there and the scenery is really beautiful. There is a waterfall and a field to the left of it.

"How do you like it?" She's standing beside me, at peace.

"Nice."

She frowns. "Nice? That's all you can say?"

I sit on a big rock. "Okay. Very nice."

She groans, but sits beside me. "I'm sorry about Julia and what happened earlier. Truth be known, she's really nice, caring, and tolerant. She's also a very wonderful magic-

Spencer wisely doesn't finish the sentence. "She raised me after my mother abandoned me."

She shrugs her shoulders and acts like she doesn't care. But it doesn't take a fortuneteller to see that is does. Julia's hysteria gradually starts to fade into a distant memory. "Hey. Look, it doesn't matter. It's fine."

We just sit still for a moment. It's relaxing and I love it. I see that Spencer is really happy and I get a little jealous. Because I move around a lot, I've never had a place like this. A place to just be myself. "So, it's just you and your grandmother?" I hope I'm not intruding.

She doesn't seem to mind. "Yeah, I never knew my dad. I don't even know his name."

"Hey. I'm sorry. Do you have anything to go on?"

She gets defensive. "Who says I want to know?"

"I didn't mean.. I'm sorry."

Her voice softens, "I only know that they met in the forest, after my father finished some exams for high school. They only had a couple of days though."

Then it hit me why this place is so special to Spencer. "This is the place, isn't it? Where they.."

She interrupted. "Yeah. So what?"

"I didn't mean to get nosy."

She changes the subject. "So, why did your family move here? As much as I love this place, there are a lot of disadvantages. Especially in the winter. It's so cold and it's coming fast this year."

I let her change the subject. It's not my business. "My dad got into an accident and his leg was injured pretty badly. He can't play his music anymore, so he got really depressed. My mom thought that this move would be good for him."

She seems interested in this. "How did the accident happen?"

"He was doing this cowboy, _yee haw_ thing at a concert for his fans, and there was water on the stage. So he slipped and fell off the stage and landed on his leg the wrong way. It caused some muscle and tendon damage."

Her eyes go wide. "Freaky."

"Yeah. It was bad luck."

She was probably remembering how clumsy I was in class today. "You don't have to say it. I know I'm a klutz.

"I wasn't going to say that. I was just thinking that accidents must happen a lot with you."

Bad luck follows us like the plague, but I didn't say that. "We've have a few broken bones."

"How many?"

"Four, eight, ten."

"What?!?"

"There was this car accident. My mom broke her collarbone and a few ribs. My sister, Kyla, broke her arm and her leg, slipping on ice. I've broken my arm in two places by falling off the monkey bars. I also broke my knee once."

She's staring at me in disbelief. "I've never broken anything."

"Well, you're just lucky then."

I'm reluctant to tell Spencer about the family business going broke, or the fire at our last school that demolished the entire Art department. I think she sees through me though.

"Come on. Let it out."

"Alright, Alright." I grab her wrist, but I don't let go. I like the feeling of it. "There was this flood that wiped out the house we were renting."

"Really? Was anyone hurt?"

"Fortunately, no one was hurt. But it was close. My mom insisted on saving some photos."

"A lot of people say they would go back for photos, but I would go back for"… her eyes flicker to mine and she turns away. "Never mind. You lived near a river or something?"

"Sure. I lived right near a stream, but it had never flooded before. Took the whole town by surprise." I couldn't believe how open I was to Spencer. All my thoughts are just slipping out. And I had just met her. It's amazing really.

"So, you lost everything? Except for the photos?"

"And my dad's famous heritage book. It's his pride and joy. It traces our family back to the 1200s. The Davies had one of the very first stone-built castles."

Spencer looks so interested and her eyes were growing bigger. "Are you kidding? Have you seen it?"

"Nah. But I've seen pictures."

"That's so cool. I would love to see your heritage book some day. My family's so small. All I know is that my mom took off to Ohio and Julia was a single mother."

I start to feel a little sorry for her. She's not that much different than me. I may not have the connections of feeling belonged like her, but she doesn't know who her parents are. "If you want, I could show you the book one day."

"I would love it."

She's so cool when she's not talking about magic and stuff. But I knew it wouldn't last long. To prove my point she said, "I think maybe your family's cursed or something."

"I doubt that."

"No, think about it. All those accidents and your powers. The curse has to have something to do with them. It makes sense."

I give up and start to walk away. Maybe I can make it back to some of my classes on time. "Please don't start again. You'll ruin the morning."

She jumps up and matches my pace. "I think your powers are growing. I mean, your dad's accident isn't just a repairable broken bone, it's serious."

"Bad luck is just bad luck. Just stop it. I want to be normal like everyone else in this world."

"You are who you are. You can't change it. She pauses. Do you think I actually want powers? Because I do have powers. It's nothing big, I can do a few tricks. But my main power is getting into people's minds."

I glance at her. "You can read people's minds?"

She shakes her head. "No, nothing like that. I can just sense people's emotions, like sad, happy, and angry. Stuff like that."

"Great," I say sarcastically. I start to run to get away from her.

"I was in your mind this morning, Ashley Davies!"

I just keep running, hoping I'll get away from her. I stop for a second and I see she is right behind me. "You are insane, Spencer…whatever your last name is. "

"It's Carlin and you know you felt me."

I start running again, away from the forest and Spencer, succeeding this time. I hear whispering sounds in my head as if Spencer was standing right next to me. _With your powers unleashed, you could really hurt someone._

Okay. Now I'm going crazy. I have to stay away from her. _Anything can happen! _That's it. Her delusional mind is rubbing off on me. I'll find out who her group of friends is and get in a different group, even if that means hanging out with Glen.


	5. Chapter 5

I made another chapter before a week had gone by. I'm so proud of myself! (: So anyways, its short, but it's still something right? R&R pweaseeeeeeeeeeeeee?

**Spencer**

Friday morning, we were all together in the quad. Chelsea and I normally don't hang around here, but it was raining and the quad is the only place that provides shelter. The quad is normally for the 'popular' kids to hang out, even though its supposed to be big enough for the entire school population, which would work out if we were leprechauns.

I haven't been able to get Ashley out of my mind. I couldn't help it, but I haven't talked to her since that day. She's made a point of keeping her distance from me and hanging out with another group of people. I scared her with my magic theories. I miss her though.

"Looks like she's fitting in nicely," Chelsea says. "Makes sense too," she goes on, "she's pretty hot, don't you think? I wouldn't know, it's not my area of expertise." Chelsea laughs at her own joke.

I look over and I see that Aiden's arm is slung loosely over Ashley's shoulders. I try to focus on something else to get my mind off Aiden making moves on her. Do I think Ashley's hot? Maybe so. But wording my thoughts aloud? Defiantly not. Chels would bug the hell outta me for the rest of the year and I really don't need that.

She turns around and our eyes meet. We stare into each other's eyes for what seems like centuries, but I know it was only a few seconds. The bell rings and our trance breaks.

I haven't answered Chels, but I guess she took the silence as an agreement and rambles on. "I mean, she's really clumsy and can't stop dropping things like the eggs in foods or the newspapers in journalism. But I just think that makes her even cuter, you know?"

I'm starting to get aggravated by Chelsea. "Can we not talk about this anymore?"

She starts to look worried "What's wrong?"

I choose to just give her a look and ignore her question, but she catches on.

"Oh god. You have it bad, don't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I lie because I do have it bad. So much that it's like an obsession and it's driving me crazy.

Chelsea's really amused about the fact I may be crushing on Ashley. She probably thinks that it could never happen since Ashley was accepted by the most popular kids and she wouldn't want to hang out with the weird people. Chels is just poor and I'm _scary face_ as Glen likes to call me. Chelsea and I have been friends since kindergarten, so I'm happy with my social status.

Chelsea spins around and gets in people's way just to face me. "I gotta cheer you up! We should go to the movies tonight, it's Friday."

The theater here is an old church, which only has showings three days a week. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday afternoons.

We talk about what's showing. It's something about a witch on trials from the 16th century and we both burst out laughing at this.

We decide to meet at the icehouse instead, the local café. My mood begins to improve, at least enough to get me through the day. King High is such a small school, with the population of 10th grade at 27 people. I wonder if Ashley will be at the Icehouse tonight and if she would be with Aiden.

By the end of the day, I've convinced myself that the only reason I'm interested in Ashley is for her well-being. Besides her clumsiness, nothing big or magical-like has happened this week. Either she has taken a lot of control on her emotions or I made a huge mistake and Ashley didn't really cause the storm in the lab. It seems like a dream now. But I couldn't have really imagined all of it up, could i?

If Ashley really doesn't have the gift that I thought he had, then I had really made an idiot out of myself.

I'm relieved school's out for the day. I start thinking about all the things I said to Ashley. Every stupid word. But I realize, either way, I've blown it.


	6. Chapter 6

Ahhh. Sorry guys for taking forever! Holidays are to blame. There's so much drama in my house and it's really stressful. But this is your Christmas present from me. (: Hope you had a good Christmas and New Years. Pressing the big green rectangle at the end of the story would really make me smile. :D

**Spencer**

The icehouse is crowed. It seems everyone is here, everyone except for Ashley. Aiden's here though. He's hanging with a bunch of girls, Kyla, Madison, his usual group. I wonder what happened to Glen? Aiden's arm is thrown around Madison.

Chelsea notices the act of affection. "Look at that," Chels says in disgust. Her head nods toward them. They put the two center tables together, so they're kind of hard to miss. "Have you heard that Glen broke up with Madison?"

This is big news. She notices that she has my attention. "Rumor has it that Glen gave Madison an ultimatum to either accept Ashley into their group or to forget about them being together. And apparently Glen is making his moves on Ashley."

I try to remember to breathe. In and out. In and out.

"Of course Aiden couldn't do anything, he's a retard."

I try to absorb it all. I hate that women aren't in control like they should be, since Glen apparently makes the rules. Ashley must be happy. She got what she wanted, to be accepted. I mean they are the most popular group in the school. She's definitely done good.

We sit off at the far corner, nearest to the kitchen. We don't come here a lot, but when we do I love sitting here. No one would know I'm here, unless you're really looking.

I guess it doesn't take a genius to know Ashley is out with Glen. They probably went to the movies first. Damn… and she's watching that witch burning rubbish.

They walk in a half an hour later and Glen is grinning like the idiot that he is, while Ashley is just holding his hand. When I see this, I start seething with jealousy.

"They're so noticeable," Chelsea remarks. "You never told me. What do you think about it?"

I can't help remembering this morning when Ashley was with Aiden. I bet Aiden wishes he could have her. But what Glen wants, he gets. Glen's parents are DOCTORS, this city's biggest professionals. Because of the fact that his parents are doctors, they're rich and he is unbelievably spoilt.

We should've seen this coming though. Glen has wanted Ashley since the first day of school. Madison has always been there for Glen, but he is one hell of a player. Glen IS the king of this mountain. There is no one other person that can match him on three counts: looks, arrogance, and social standing.

It occurs to me now that Madison has to have someone else, now that Glen has Ashley, who is so obviously accepted into their group. Madison is like that, she has to have her own man-candy.

Chelsea is looking at me as if I have 4 heads. Hmm. I should probably reply. "Who cares?"

"Ahh. You don't of course," she replies with a sarcastic tone.

I roll my eyes and decide to get another coffee. I could never flag down a waitress with this big of a crowd, so I just go straight to the counter. Bad move. There were two people I didn't want to see. The first is Ashley. I think I caught her off guard, because she has a weird expression on her face. I grab my coffee and turn around, but I could still feel her eyes staring at me. I look back and my eyes catch hers.

Madison looks at what Ashley is staring at. She flips her hair and says, "Can't blame you for staring. You'll get used to her; we call her the Freak Show."

Some of my coffee spills as I try to hurry back to my seat. It wasn't Madison's insult that has got me worried, it was the expression on Ashley's face. It was the same look in Chemistry class.

"Forget about her," Glen says while putting his arms around Ashley. "She's entertaining, but it's her Grandmother who's really weird. Her shop's interesting enough, and I happen to go there sometimes. The real stuff is hidden in the back rooms. Julia is into live sacrifices and they drink blood. I've even seen blood on the carpet, something red anyways. And they've been seen dancing in the forest…naked. Pure devil worship."

A glass shatters when the waitress was giving Sherry her drink.

"My bad, Sherry. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, it just exploded," the waitress says. "I'll get you another one."

Bella Smith, one of the owners, comes rushing out when she hears the commotion. She looks so angry, and I think she might even try to fire the waitress. I think she was just having a bad night though, because she's not usually like this.

I glance at Chels, and wait for her to gather her things. She dropped her coat on the floor and needed to zip up her purse. Bella is listening intently to the waitress' explanation. She knew that the waitress was telling the truth. No one is that good of an actress. Bella promises the table a free soda or cappuccino.

One look at Ashley, and the need to leave is more urgent. She looks so mad. If she really does have the gift , and loses her temper, then things could start to heat up.

Aiden decides to annoy me as I start to walk out. "Hey there, Scary Face," he croons. "Leaving so soon? We haven't had any fun yet."

"Piss off, Aiden. Your breath smells like the boys locker room."

I shocked him, but he still wouldn't let me go. I try to send a silent plea to Ashley to keep calm. She doesn't get it and glass starts to break everywhere. No window or cup is spared. People are screaming and Bella loses it completely.

I wonder if Aiden is taken aback enough to let me go. I was proved wrong. "Not so fast, witchy one. This is your fault, isn't it?"

I scoff and say, "I didn't realize you were ugly _and_ stupid."

He doesn't take this very well and decides to put his lips to my throat. I could puke. I kneed him where it hurts. Apparently, I didn't knee him hard enough, because he bounced back quickly. He tightens his hold on me. "Fiesty and freaky. I like it."

Two things happen. Ashley gets up and she looks even angrier than before. Vibration starts to form at our feet. It has the sudden effect of stillness in the room. Soon, everything is in motion.

Aiden lets me go, and everyone starts running out, thinking it's an earthquake. Chelsea starts yanking on my arm. "Chels, I'll be right out. I have to find Ashley."

"Ashley can take care of herself. This place is about to collapse. It's an EARTHQUAKE." A few seconds later, Chelsea points at a spot. "There she is, go get her and lets go!"

"You go and I'll call you later." Chelsea takes off. I wanted her to stay, but I didn't want her thinking anything abnormal is going on with Ashley. She could handle it, of course. But Ashley is oblivious to this herself and this needs careful planning.

I walk to her and I notice she was like in a trance. Nothing I do or say had any effect. A huge chandelier comes crashing down and I pushed Ashley out of the way, landing on top of her. It does little to break the trance, but at least she's moving now, slowly pulling himself upright. Leading her, I find my way around the back way of the kitchen.

At last, we're in the back alley where everything is still and quiet. There were no walls, windows, or roofs crashing. No hysterically screaming people. I have to think about this later, at home. My first priority is getting Ashley to safety. If anyone sees her in this semi-catatonic state, then people might remember what happened in chemistry class and start asking questions. Questions Ashley can't answer.

It might be the fresh air, or whatever it is, but Ashley starts coming around. She's still vague and exhausted though. She can hardly walk and I slid my shoulder under her arm and help her.

Eventually we get to Julia's store. We get her upstairs in my bed, and her eyes close immediately. I look worriedly and Julia.

"I'll brew him something to get her senses back. While it's working, you can tell me what happened."

Julia comes back ten minutes later with a strong-smelling drink. Between the two of us, we get the stuff down her throat. While Ashley was resting, I explain what happened at the café, Aiden's acts, Ashley's trance, and the violent earth tremor.

Julia listens intently and shakes her head at times. "Ashley doesn't even know she has the gift. Her mind was using the trance as a coping mechanism. And until she learns of her gift, she can't control it."

"That's the problem, Julia. She doesn't want to deal with her gift. And there's another problem. I think her family is cursed."

I explain about all the bad luck and misfortunes that run in her family, right down to the clumsy things Ashley can't seem to control.

Julia looks thoughtful. "It could explain the reason her gift has been released. Maybe it was meant to be used as a tool. A subconscious attempt to reverse the curse. Of course, there's no way to know, unless Ashley shares us information. Her acceptance is important. And by the look of things, time is essential. As Ashley's powers grow, so could the curse. These two things are probably linked.


End file.
